Black leopard wrasse

TvanB1 · May 3, 2019

I don’t see many of these around anymore. I took some pictures today and thought I would share. Beautiful fish, ive watched it change throughout the years and its pretty incredible. This one has developed a lot of blue coloring towards its tail which looks much brighter in person.
I would love to see some more of these so feel free to post pictures.

Juvenile - Sorry for the horrible picture;

Today;

MIKE NY · May 3, 2019

Here’s mine taken a few months ago...

Cleo · May 3, 2019

Beautiful fish for sure!

OrionN · May 4, 2019

Here is mine. I had him for about 8 months.
How long did it take for your Black Leopard to grow out of his juvenile coloration?

TvanB1 · May 4, 2019

OrionN said:
Here is mine. I had him for about 8 months.
How long did it take for your Black Leopard to grow out of his juvenile coloration?

Nice!
Took mine about 1 year to start changing coloration. I have had him for about 2 years now.

Reefpuck · May 4, 2019

I saw 2 today at a lfs but the guy said he couldn't get them to eat anything...so I passed. Beautiful fish...hopefully I can get one someday.

evolved · May 4, 2019

MMacro said:
I don’t see many of these around anymore. I took some pictures today and thought I would share. Beautiful fish, ive watched it change throughout the years and its pretty incredible. This one has developed a lot of blue coloring towards its tail which looks much brighter in person.
I would love to see some more of these so feel free to post pictures.

Juvenile - Sorry for the horrible picture;

Today;

Nice transitional male there. He'll get green on that emerging pattern if he keeps progressing.

I have one as well, and I'm hoping to get a male transition eventually as well.

vetteguy53081 · May 4, 2019

Always available in my area. They can be difficult to acclimate and feed, but once feeding - A true treasure in the collection

homer1475 · May 4, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
Always available in my area. They can be difficult to acclimate and feed, but once feeding - A true treasure in the collection

Wow and I've been on the look out for one for a couple years now. Had one a few years back that my leopard bullied to death. Since then the leopard has died(long story), and want another, just cannot find them anywhere for a reasonable price.

vetteguy53081 · May 4, 2019

homer1475 said:
Wow and I've been on the look out for one for a couple years now. Had one a few years back that my leopard bullied to death. Since then the leopard has died(long story), and want another, just cannot find them anywhere for a reasonable price.

Live aquaria and fishybusiness.com may have them also

homer1475 · May 4, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
Live aquaria and fishybusiness.com may have them also

LA is supposed to email me when they have one in stock. I have never heard of fishybusiness. I will go have a look. Thanks!

ca1ore · May 4, 2019

This is one leopard that I cannot keep. Bad luck perhaps. I have generally no trouble getting them to eat - but then they just waste away. Don’t have this problem with most of the other varieties.

Hemmdog · May 4, 2019

I have a black leopard and a potters. They are both awesome fish. They are super fat and eat anything.

Billdogg · May 4, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
Always available in my area. They can be difficult to acclimate and feed, but once feeding - A true treasure in the collection

My LFS frequently has both Blue and Black Leopard wrasses. I went with blue, and certainly had more trouble acclimating than any fish that I can remember, but by far my favorite fish. I've found them to be voracious hunters of flatworms and many other pests. A great addition to many reef systems IMO.

cancun · May 4, 2019

Bad pic but here is mine...[emoji3]

russell13 · May 4, 2019

I love this fish but didn’t have much success keeping it alive

cancun · May 4, 2019

Yea this is my second attempt in 5 years...
The first one was tiny.....so this time I tried a larger one. I am hoping to have better luck this time. I have 6 other leopards.....2 blue star, 2 Melegris, and 2 Moyers....had them for a few years....I am not sure why the black seems to be a bit tougher....[emoji848]

TvanB1 · May 4, 2019

They aren’t rare by any means but it is tough to find a healthy individual to start with. Smaller specimens are typically easier to acclimate to tank life. I got mine directly from wholesale and quarantined it for 3 weeks. I treated with prazi and mixed food with general cure to remove any intestinal parasites. Live foods are almost always necessary to get these guys eating. Black worms, baby brine, and copepods all work well.
No special treatment for this guy other than feeding 3-4x a day.

TvanB1 · May 4, 2019

Hemmdog said:
I have a black leopard and a potters. They are both awesome fish. They are super fat and eat anything.

I actually added a potters when I got black leopard. It disappeared shortly after.
Im looking to try either another potters or a choati.

ca1ore · May 5, 2019

BTW, I don’t agree at all that live foods are require for leopard wrasse. OK, you may come across an adult specimen that can only be tempted by copepods, etc.; but the vast majority that recover from initial acclimation will take frozen. I do have a stash of nutramar ova that is my frozen-of-last-resort food. My issue with the black is not getting it to eat initially, rather keeping on weight. Even with treatment for internal parasites, they just waste away. I have multiple other species that don’t waste away. Curious.